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One of the Jewish holy days is "Yom Kipur" - roughly translates as "day of making amends". For the religious, it's kind of a weird Jewish version of a catholic confession - they fast for an entire day, during which they spend a lot of time praying, and the rest of the time is split evenly between quietly reflecting on their own sins and shortcoming during the last year, and being hungry.
As an atheist, I couldn't care less about the religion tied with the holy day. However, I do get to enjoy a really fun side effect: it is forbidden to work during Yom Kipur, or to open up any place of business.. or to drive. It's literally against the law to use your car for an entire day.
Which means it's a perfect opportunity to dust off the bicycles and go for a ride, just rollin' on in the middle of a highway without having to worry about cars hitting you.
I decided to range a medium distance this year, and visited a friend who lives in a city about 10 miles away from me. I arrived at his place late in the evening and by the time I started heading back, it was 1:00 AM.
It was a magical experience. Not only the cars were absent on my way back, but all other people, as well. Most people went to sleep by that time, and those who weren't were probably close to home, not pedaling in an inter-urban highway.
Parts of the road were lit, but large stretches were not, and driving through them, I could really feel like I lived in a different time. There I was, driving on solid concrete with not a soul in sight in any direction. A starry night's sky above me and a quiet, peaceful aura to it all. To my genre savvy mind, I was, for a little while, in a post apocalyptic world - humanity is gone, society is gone, and I am now merely a highly intelligent animal who remembers a different time. If I wanted to get home, it wasn't about driving or catching a buss - I had to get there on my own. Distance - even a short distance like 10 miles - suddenly had meaning again.
It's a little hard to describe, but there was something oddly comforting and incredibly peaceful about traveling through a road that usually sees thousands of cards passing through each hour, and being all on my own. It somehow made the world feel smaller and larger at the same time.
(Of course, 30 minutes later I was at home, so it was a short spell, but a powerful one ;)).
Did anybody else experience something like this? If so, I'd like to hear your take on it. If not... well, you are missing out, I think. If there is at all a way you can find an opportunity yo do something like this... take it. It's pretty great.
The closest thing I have experienced is walking around factory/warehouse parts of the city in the evening, especially Saturday or Sunday. Mostly deserted with only a very occasional car or stray cat.